Nordic holds ribbon cutting for Pooler expansion

Nordic Logistics and Warehousing officially opened its new cold storage and blast-freezing facility in Pooler with a ribbon-cutting Friday.

The 200,000-square-foot expansion off Jimmy DeLoach Parkway doubles capacity for the company, which opened a 200,000-square-foot phase one facility in April 2013.

Don Schoenl, president and CEO of Nordic, said an expansion had always been in the works, but to have it open three years almost to the day of phase one was quite a feat. He credited much of the success to the support of Savannah's business friendly organizations and partnerships.

"... We take it for granted when we're here in Savannah how easy it is to do business. Whether it's the port, the city of Pooler or (Savannah Economic Development Authority), it's just, 'What do you need and how do we need to help?'" he said.

"And if the rest of the world was like that, we'd have facilities in a hundred different countries, so thank you for what you do. You make our job easy."

Combined, the buildings have the capacity to hold almost 50,000 tons of cargo, which comes from 75 different countries. The expansion also brings 70 new employees, who Schoenl said are dedicated and always willing to help.

"The people who work here every day, the management staff and employees are the best people in the world. This is a difficult environment, I throw nothing but curveballs, and they hit them out of the park," Schoenl said.

Pooler Mayor Mike Lamb and incoming Georgia Ports Authority Executive Director Griff Lynch also spoke at the ceremony, both of them praising the partnership between their organizations and Nordic.

"It's not been like a business that comes to your city, it's been more like a partnership and almost family," Lamb said, adding that with a facility that at its lowest point registers negative 25 degrees, it is, in fact, cooler in Pooler.

"Let me tell you, this is the coolest place around," he said.

For its part, the Georgia Ports Authority has invested $300 million at its Garden City container terminal to install 104 refrigerated cargo racks and more than 700 plug-ins for containers, giving the terminal the ability to power 3,234 chilled containers at a time.

"It's an incredible opportunity," Lynch said of Nordic's growth, commitment and accessible location off Jimmy DeLoach Parkway, which is just six miles from the Garden City terminal.